


Closer Distance

by VisibleClosedEyes



Series: Closer Distance [1]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Freeform, Friendship, I Tried, Living World Episode: s04e06 War Eternal, One Shot, Spoilers, noble original character, nothing happen, very vanilla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisibleClosedEyes/pseuds/VisibleClosedEyes
Summary: The commander becomes a little closer with Canach
Relationships: Canach/Female Player Character (Guild Wars)
Series: Closer Distance [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965040
Kudos: 5





	Closer Distance

Canach has not seen anything like this before in two-decade and a half of his Sylvari existence. The moment he saw the luminous crystal dragon of light and the sky was clear out of branded dragon 's corruption.  
Kralkatorik was dead, gone, forever and Aurene now became the elder dragon of light replacing her grandfather. Canach knew, always, that the commander would make it. She always does. Even when she, herself, lost hope - she managed to put an end to Kralkatorik anyway.  
He hoped he could witness the moment by his own two eyes but sadly not, he was needed as a support unit at the pact command. Of course, he saw her in and out of the camp and popped here and there but he only had a chance to only exchange a few lines with her like 'Good luck, commander' or ' Make it back here - in one piece '. He still does not see her back at the command and only hears what people have been talking about her since yesterday. Yes, she needs her break just like usual, after a big battle happened she will retreat to her isolation to rest. She did this after the previous Kralkatorik fight, after Jahai bluff shenanigan, after Joko.  
But Canach started to get worried, a little. Normally, she will be gone for at most 4-5 hours — this time she already has gone for a day and a half.  
" Has anyone seen the commander? " He asks one of the Priory crews. Since the commander is part of the order, maybe they would have seen her?  
“The Pack commander? Haven’t seen her since the Crystal dragon assault... “ The crew replies, at first he doesn’t seem to really interested but the worries on Canach’s face send off a wary signal  
“ uh... Is everything alright? Should I be alert..”  
“ No, that wouldn’t be necessary,” The Sylvari warrior cut off before the priory scholar could say anything  
After asking around in the Priory Research Camp and receiving no clear or useful info where she could be, he storms off from the central command into the deeper Dragonfall. Along the way he meets soldiers from different units, none of which have seen the commander recently.  
And then Canach remembers something, Commander has been talking about the ‘Discovery of new species’ of some sort. He’s pretty confident it’s probably connected with all these strange-looking dragonic creatures. What was it called Skyscale? Probably. They are everywhere on this island and he hates it. For some unknown reason, the commander always manages to involve or discover things that are deemed by the others to be dangerous. What the hell is this woman thinking? He never understands.  
He goes deep into Dragonfall's underworld section somewhere Olmakhan settled, they start to pack things up – ready to go home but some of them decide to stay a little longer for whatever reasons. Most of those who stayed are vigil soldiers or Priory members 

“You are looking for the commander, yes? She’s somewhere on the cliff north of here – or many on the top of Grenth statue, that’s last where I saw her,” Charr Vigil states before I even have to say anything 

At the top of the cliff outside the camp, she sits on top of the statue’s head – Skyscale beside her. When she recognizes me she signals me to get up to her

“ Canach? What are you doing down there? Come on up!”  
“ In case that you didn’t realize already, normal people don’t have a pet dragon at their will” She looks at him, puzzled for a second— then laugh embarrassingly 

They, now, walk on the path leading down to the coast. It’s not a beautiful scenery — the commander seems to like it, probably because she is a necromancer, this is a domain of Grenth after all. The jade-green sky reflects its pigment on the stone and sand makes it look greenish when it most likely white. There is nothing to observe by eyes — It’s just black rock, white rock, and sand but when it comes to feelings — this place makes… it is just hard to explain.. The way the cold crept, seducing his skin almost drove him to frenzy.  
The woman next to him? Doesn’t bother. Being a Necromancer probably is the explanation. We walk in complete silence, he looks at her from time to time but her gaze fixes ahead. Then she suddenly stops and turns to face him. Her hair is still very much bright scarlet even under this green jade sky.

“Commander?”  
“Do you mind if we...don’t go back to the command ship? How long until we have to board the ship?” She inquires, sounds very… uncertain? Maybe? Whatever the case is; she is not ready to go back.  
“That wouldn’t be a problem, would it? You are the commander, not me.” 

So they retreat to sit on a stone under a cliff providing itself as a shade.

“ What’s on your mind, If I may ask,” Canach breaks the silence. He isn’t a talkative person but this long-dead air is killing him

“Family,” she answers. “Complicated stuff,” Her fingers twirl the end of her loose and relaxed ponytail, the fiery color is in contrast to her grey stone around us.

“I’m an– particularly– an important person. Well, my family is rather important. I might be your commander here but back home I have...other responsibilities,” She seems proud when speaking of her family– like an eagle flexing its massive wings on the sky but the brows tell a different story. She is stressed, tensed – something is wrong here.

“They called for you?” 

“No, just talking, they want me in the court after this. I have been avoiding this since forever but it seems that day of the renegade noble child was gone. I need to be present,” 

“ You sound like you have quite a scandalous image back there,” he says neutrally. Not trying to tease her or anything and certainly not meant to be funny but, suddenly, the red-haired woman bursts out-loud laughter. She palms her mouth and keeps her eyes shut as her body is quaking because of laughter. 

“ What?”  
“Scandalous...I like the way you put it! Well, I do have my fair share of raunchiness with a taste of a rebel but nothing more than that,”  
“I thought humans take this–formalities, and manners very seriously—no?” He asks for confirmation. She tells him that it was more complicated than that and not being in the house's court is not the worst thing a noble can do. He doesn’t listen to all of it, he glads that at least the commander looks less tensed

But then, like a ghost that keeps haunting Ascalon, the face of a stressful look comes back to plague her yet again. 

“What was it about?”  
“I—I don't know if I should— You know what, fine I’ll tell you,” Canach feels bad as the commander struggles between getting it off her chest or protecting the family’s secrets. Maybe he shouldn’t press her like this but he can’t contain his voracious curiosity.  
“Line of success, duty— future and marriage, ” she tells him but her eyes are staring into the void in front of her

“Are you getting married?” An honestly surprised question  
“Oh, no..no, not me! My relative is,”  
“Then why the worry?”  
“Well, I —” The red-haired commander hesitates but quickly carries on. Since she already tells Canach that much anyway.

“I don’t have the best relationship with my family...and—and the letter reminded me of that. That I’m the odd one out. Even the words they used— It was too formal—”

The concept seems alien to Canach but yet painfully relatable in the most paradoxical way. Here he is, sitting in the Pale tree forsaken place next to a noble female human with a completely different background than him but managing to make him feel pain like the one that plagued him always.

“Commander, I’m here if you need me,” is all he can say to her.  
“Thank you...I have to do this alone but… I appreciate you being with me, uh — Thanks, Canach,” and that’s all she can answer. 

They walk back to the central command as the day slowly fading and the night crawling up to the sky. They are walking side by side in complete silence, just like typical time, but today— there is something different — the distance between them is a little closer.


End file.
